


Making Memories

by dasakuryo



Series: Small Measure of Peace [6]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, little Poe makes an appearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 04:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12051189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dasakuryo/pseuds/dasakuryo
Summary: Cassian weighs his options and frowns. There they are, Jyn and Poe, staring and pouting at him from the sofa. Cassian wants to say no so badly. He truly does, but something tugs at his chest and he seems to quiver at the thought. (Shara is so going to hate him for this.)





	Making Memories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [too_wise_to_woo_peaceably](https://archiveofourown.org/users/too_wise_to_woo_peaceably/gifts).



> A huge thanks to too-wise-to-woo-peacebly for prompting me this (and some other great fluff ideas related with food and cooking!). As always, translations of phrases in Spanish can be found at the end of A/N n.n Hope you enjoy the story!

Cassian weighed his options and frowned. There _they_ were, staring at him from the sofa. Poe was grabbing the arm rest, practically digging his fingers into it, as a pleading smile broke free on his face. His brown rounded eyes gazing at him in a beseeching look. Jyn was sporting a pout on her face, lips curved downwards, gazing at him through her eyelashes. She tilted her head to one side, jutting out her lower lip even more.

"Porfis, ¿sí, tío?" Poe's acute voice rose up. He clutched the curve of synthleather tighter when the question rolled out of his lips.

Cassian wanted to say no so badly. He truly did, but something tugged at his chest and seemed to quiver at the thought. He imagined the thrill dwindling from the kid's eyes and it felt like a punch—

Shara would _hate_ him for this, he knew that much... Perhaps if he pursed his lips and shook his head the refusal would hurt less. Not a second later he found himself ruling out that idea completely, as soon as his gaze met Jyn's. That soft wrinkle right above her eyebrow could only mean one thing —that if she wasn't so committed to keep that imploring expression etched to her face, she would have already quirked an eyebrow and frowned at him, a silent dare for him to follow suit with such plan.

"La tía Jyn también quiere," Poe fought back, insisting, as if bringing up the fact Jyn was siding with him on the matter had any sort of influence on Cassian's final decision. "Somos dos," he declared, holding up two fingers. The smile that dimpled his cheeks, victorious.

" _Three_ , actually," Jyn corrected; and pointed downwards to her lap with a swift flourish of her index finger.

A smile tugged at Cassian's lips at the gesture, but not a second later his face contorted in a captious frown of pursed lips and slightly scrunched nose, knowing what they were evidently trying to pull. He would have wanted to fold his arm over his chest, and yet again he found himself doing the exact opposite of what he'd intended. He rubbed his face and then scratched his chin.

The sigh built up in his throat, but he didn't let it out. His hand came to rest at his hip. He really couldn't— not when both of them were looking at him _like that_. Poe, beaming and glowing and utterly hopeful; and Jyn, feigning sadness with clouded eyes and a pout to pull at his heartstrings.

"Fine," his voice wrapped around a sigh. Despite his downcast gaze, he did took notice of Poe's smile widening, Jyn clamping her lips together trying to keep hers at bay, "but for dessert only, are we clear?" he promptly added, lifting an accusatory finger in their general direction.

If Shara knew he was about to do what she had asked, and stressed, and made clear that he wasn't to do under any circumstances —no matter how much Poe insisted with that disarming and cute smile of his— when they dropped him that morning to spend a week con los tíos—

He would probably never hear the end of it.

* * *

 

"Something smells _really_ good."

He bit the smile that crept its way into his face at Jyn's voice. He heard the shuffle of her steps, more sliding than anything else, and the warm tow of her arm circling around him. A swift, brief glance to his side and he saw her stroking the roundness of her bump. His cheeks hurt gloriously; he couldn't keep his smile from widening at the scene, even though he was trying to keep his lips tightly pressed together. She'd laid her hand on his hip, and her thumb was gently rubbing the hard angle of his hipbone over his shirt.

The rich and sweet scent of spiced blue-milk lingered in the air. Heavy and yet soft at the same time. He stirred with a slow, measured circling motion, making sure the rice didn't stick to the pan and avoiding any spills. He breathed in, practically tasting the cinnamon on his tongue.

Satisfaction came thrumming in his throat when Jyn tipped her head to the side, letting it rest on his arm. A quick glance out of the corner of his eye and he saw her eyes fluttering shut, a delighted hum rattling the silence, judging by the way her lips curled.

He pressed a kiss to her hair, earning nothing but a tighter hold on his side as she pulled him closer and pressed him against hers. He felt her shift underneath the touch of his lips. With a smile still dangling on them, he withdrew, ducking his head down to meet her gaze.

The closeness was somewhat awkward to get a proper look, but the small distance was enough for the images to not superimpose one another before his eyes. So he did see the way she licked her lips while gazing at him. Neck craned, the tip of her nose inches away from his, and if he did as much as move a muscle his would invariably brush against hers.

Instead of gravitating downwards, he lifted his head and kissed her forehead —a lingering pressure— before pulling back and drawing his attention back to the steaming pot of milk and rice he was stirring. There were swirls of steam waving upwards, clouds of light light-blue foam of tiny tiny bubbles on its surface. He scraped the bottom of the pan with the wooden spoon just in case.

"No evaporated milk?" Jyn asked, hand now brushing upwards on his side.

Cassian pursed his lips before answering, "No need to make it that sweet, all things considering-" he trailed off, thoughts immediately going to Poe and the fact he was meant to sleep that night after dinner, not spend the night jumping up and down the living room.

Jyn made a small sound of protest, "but it's creamier that way."

He looked down, stared into her eyes from the vantage point of that height difference and arched an accusatory eyebrow, "really?"

He wanted to feign behind mad, but tension curled his lips when she tilted her head and looked at him through her eyelashes. She scraped her bottom lip with her teeth, shooting him a shy averting gaze, "yeah, really. I like it better that way."

"And who would deal with the kid who won't go to sleep if he gets a sugar rush?" he asked, the feigned curiosity ploughing even more creases on his forehead.

Jyn breathed out a giggle and poked him in the arm. She tugged the cloth, wrinkled it between her fingers, pulling him towards her before replying with a witty, "well, we can take it as a prelude of what awaits us, can't we?"

She smiled, and before Cassian could even begin retorting that statement she was already pressing her lips to his mouth, standing on her toes. The retort died in his throat and he breathed her in instead. The gentle, tender graze of her lips brushing against his.

His sigh curled around her lips. He resisted the force pulling him towards her by leaning backwards, pressing his lips tightly together. Her hand on his neck thwarted his disengagement plan; she nudged him closer.

He whispered, barely inches away from her mouth, "Jyn, the rice's going to sti—"

She shushed him pressing a peck to his lips; "milk isn't boiling yet," she fought back in a breathy tone, "you've time to spare, don't you?" she teased him again, pressing another soft, brief kiss to his mouth.

He captured her lips when she pulled back. The amused sound that escaped her, something built halfway between a giggle and a yelp, got muffled in his mouth. The kiss was slow, soft, more a lazy caress of lips grazing over lips than anything else.

 

"You sure you don't want to sit down?" Cassian asked, ducking his neck down into her hair.

Cradled on his chest in that half embrace, his arm wrapped around her middle, Jyn didn't seem to want to move any time soon. But Cassian had felt the glide of her body changing position; he had taken notice of her shifting her weight.

He pulled back a bit when he felt her move, just to get a better look. Her gaze was soft, a small smile dangling on her lips right before she whispered, "I'm good," she assured, making herself comfortable leaning her back on his chest again. She covered his hand with hers before adding in an equally soft tone, "I'm really comfortable here."

He chuckled and hooked her pinky with his thumb, caressing it with a gentle brush of his fingertip. He kept stirring thoroughly. The sway of the spoon was no longer as smooth as in the previous twenty minutes. He fished out the orange zest with a fork, then scooped a bit of the thickening mixture with a teaspoon.

He had barely hovered before Jyn's eyes when she took it from his hand. She hummed in appreciation shortly after, shaking the empty spoon in a flourish in the air.

"I think it needs a few more drops of vanilla," she declared, still waving the spoon back and forth.

She leant forward and scooped a bit of it herself. When she turned to look at him, there was a shadow of a pensive frown in her slightly narrowed eyes. Cassian had his hands full, one busy stirring so the rice would stick to the pot, the other still safely around Jyn… and he couldn't really bring himself to move any of the two. He leant forward, blew on it a bit to cool it down and tasted it.

He licked his lips, nodding both appreciatively and in agreement. It was Jyn who untangled herself from the hug and sauntered to the other end of the counter. Cassian had to bit his tongue to remain silent when she stood on her toes. Her fingers inches away of both the shelf and the little bottle, not coming even close to graze any of them with her fingertips. He heard her blowing out a sigh above the popping sound of the rice and milk slowly bubbling into a boil.

"Jyn," he started, but sealed his lips shut when he saw her face split into a proud smile while she sauntered her way back towards him.

"I can still do stuff, you know," she reminded her, casually poking him in the arm with the neck of the bottle.

"I've noticed," he replied, gaze and voice soft.

She flashed him a smile and poked his nose with her finger, "well, don't forget it," she practically whispered before turning on her heels to answer to Poe's thrilled yell of tía Jyn ringing from the living room.

He kept stirring.

* * *

 

Jyn had to press her lips tightly shut to not give herself away in an auditory fashion, because the scene playing before her was deeply moving. She found herself bringing a hand to her chest, then to his mouth to quiet down the hum that invariably built in her throat.

It was— something else seeing him doing this. She should have expected it after all; she had seen him interacting with the refugee children throughout the war. To be honest, he was part of the reason she wasn't that scared about the future approaching in their horizon. She wasn't particularly good with children, not that she didn't know how to treat them or that she disliked them. Far from it, but it was sometimes difficult for her to be around children, she didn't have that… natural gift that Cassian and Baze seemed to have, that for some reason made the little ones gravitate towards them and follow them around like lost puppies.

Poe ate spoonful by spoonful; eyes glued to the holo-movie. He didn't seem that conflicted about ruining the food decoration once he'd tasted the first spoonful. Watching him sprawled on the carpet like that brought a smile to her face. Jyn was almost completely sure Shara did not let Poe stay up this late watching holo-movies, in spite of Poe's insistence of the contrary. _Just for today_ , both Cassian and she had conceded. Jyn had also managed to successfully convince Cassian to indulge in their nephew's plea and have arroz con leche for dinner too—

After all, what were uncles and aunts for? If they didn't harmlessly spoil Poe they wouldn't be meeting their duties, would they? Besides, Jyn expected Shara and Kes to do the same with their daughter in the future.

She patted the cushion when he approached, holding one serving in each hand.

"A mountain?" she asked amused, raising an eyebrow when he flopped by her side on the sofa. She couldn't forget the awe and glee on Poe's face.

He handed over her plate with a smile on his face. She let out a giggle when she looked down at her own plate. Jyn couldn't help but bit her lip and bring a hand to ruffle his hair, right at the back of his neck —more a caress than a teasing rake of fingers.

"You're a softie, you know?" he chuckled and Jyn found herself giggling. "Look at you, rebel intelligence agent, heavy-weight of the Rebel Alliance… dusting cinnamon powder on your girlfriend's dessert in a heart shape."

Cassian shrugged before resting his arm on the back of the couch. It didn't took him long to slide it down and squeeze her shoulder. Jyn had to admit that the decoration was cute; she liked the detail of the shredded coconut for snow. Poe'd liked it a bit too much at the start.

The rice was creamy and sweet, the after-taste of orange so subtle that it didn't outshine the cinnamon.    

"Something wrong?" Jyn asked. Worry creased her forehead, watching him stare at the small bowl like that, spoon hovering over the rice's surface. It wasn't his staring what worried her, but his clouded eyes. There was something going on. His silence worried him. She was quick to cover his hand with hers. But Cassian didn’t seem to have listened; she gave his palm a gentle squeeze.

"It's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing."

He bit the inside of his cheek, and blew out a sigh before whispering, "I just— it reminded me of my mother."

Jyn hand was back on his neck, gently ruffling the dark locks. She brushed her thumb on the bumps of his spine, "do you want to talk about it?" she posed the question, carefully, leaning forward.

She saw his gaze flickering to Poe, then back at the rice. He licked his lips, sucked in a breath and then looked at her in the eye. There was sadness and fondness glimmering amidst the brown warmth of his irises, Jyn felt something tug at her chest and caressed his jaw instead.

"There was a time when I— when we—" he hesitated, trailed off and felt silent again. A dry laugh rattled his chest, "the Republic troops had taken over the city. Everyone had confined themselves to their homes, the Festian Resistance was trying to drive them out—" he turned the bowl around in his hand, "my mother had made me promise I wouldn't go wandering in off outside. I was six and I—" he trailed off again. She wrapped her hand around his wrist when he breathed out a sigh, "we were running short of supplies and— and my mum started making this for dinner."

"Cassian—"

"Of course, even if I knew what was happening, having dessert for dinner for a few days was an amazing prospect for a child not to be thrilled about."

He took a spoonful of it and leant back on the couch. He flashed him a half-smile before whispering, "it was a nice memory, not a bad one, Jyn—" he assured, sliding his hand free from her grasp and taking hers in his with one swift movement, "it's just—" he fell silent.

 _It brought back other things_ , Jyn filled in her mind.

"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to—"

Her apology got stifled by his lips on hers. It was soft, brief, and sweet, the latter in more ways than one. He rested his forehead in hers, breathing on her lips, he didn't seem to want to pull away any time soon. She didn't fight back the smile that curled her lips. There was a soft cling, she figured the metal spoon touching the glass, because not a second later he was nestling her face in his palm.

"Now I have this memory too."

Their noses brushed together, their lips a breath apart.

Jyn hoped that from now onwards they could make new memories to triumph over all the darkness of their pasts.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of both Poe and Jyn teaming up to talk Cassian into making arroz con leche was too tempting a concept not to indulge in, so I did :) It may also have to do with the fact that arroz con leche was one of my favourite desserts as a child ~~(it's still is one of my favorite desserts, to be honest)~~. Of course I had to throw in some angst and hurt/comfort in there because... well, because it's stronger than me, if I am honest, and these two heal each other so it was more than fitting. Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed the story!
> 
> * * *
> 
>  **Translations**  
>  -"Porfis, ¿sí, tío?": please, uncle.  
> -"La tía Jyn también quiere": Aunt Jyn also wants [arroz con leche].  
> -"Somos dos": There's two of us.


End file.
